There’s no doubt you’ve heard about the opioid epidemic but what you may not know much about is how it impacts chronic pain patients. Of the 110 million Americans who are in chronic pain, 25% of those are in treatment and 50% of those people feel little to no control over their pain. This is in part due to the fact that treating pain can be like throwing things against the wall to see what stick. This situation is made more dire by the fact that one of their treatments options that worked – for better or for worse – is now off the table.

So care providers are struggling –struggling to find non-opioid based solutions that work, and struggling to convince these 13-million Americans that they will.

While desperate for relief, patients like John Lambert, who has been suffering from a failed back surgery and degenerative disc disease, tend to be pessimistic that anything can turn them around. Adherence to treatment regimes is less than 50%. Doctors have to work very hard to prove that sticking with something will show results.

John is not alone. I, too, have experienced the helplessness, hopelessness and isolation caused by chronic pain.

THE WHAT

That’s where Ouchie comes in. It’s a proven platform for pain management created by myself, my technical cofounder and alongside the brightest minds in pain management. It uses tools that empower patients for better outcomes through data, community and rewards for daily accomplishments.

Having launched a few months ago, Ouchie has accumulated thousands of users, thousands more data points, the support of the leading U.S. pain advocacy group, doctors from three major medical institutions – Weill Cornell, Stamford Hospital and Englewood Medical Center and a leading physical rehab chain.

HOW WE REACH USERS & GENERATE REVENUE

First, there’s our free app which is offered to patients via the app store and is promoted in medical centers, physical therapy offices and through our partnership with the U.S. Pain Foundation, the leading patient-focused non-profit in the country which gives us direct access to their 100k active members, 350k social followers and all their marketing channel. We are their official patient engagement app.

We also offer a fully customizable version of the Ouchie platform for use in hospitals, medical practices and by device manufacturers.

Lastly, we package the high level data on the qualitative and quantitative impacts of various treatments.

In addition to reaching our users via partners, we have thoughtfully-designed and highly-focused social marketing initiatives that yield user acquisition at less than $2.

THE DIFFERENTIATING FACTOR

Are we alone in this space? No. But we are alone in our holistic approach. There are tracking platforms. There are communities. But few do both, particularly from the patient and provider angle. Lastly, those with a clinical application are expensive and timely to integrate.

We also have the edge when it comes to understanding and serving the chronic patient population without isolating the medical professionals who serve an essential role in recovery.

THE WHO:

Rachel Trobman, CEO & Co-Founder — After spending over a decade building digital products and content for Fortune 500 companies and startups alike, Rachel has turned her attention to something personal. A chronic pain sufferer and mobile health advocate, Rachel leads up business development, product growth and strategy at Ouchie.

Up to this point, Ouchie has been mainly self funded. Due to demand for an Android version of the platform and to expand the content offerings and product features for everyone, we’re turning to our community for help. What we raise on iFundWomen will go toward engineering Ouchie 2.0, which will be available for both Android and iOS users.

Also, we’d love if you’d help spread the word about Ouchie. If you find it useful, tell your friends, tell your family, tell your doctors and maybe even help out an enemy or two.

Updates

The Project FAQs

Funding any startup comes with its risks. However, our team, our traction and our market has us poised for success.